Whole religions and denominations preach that
you must be baptized in water:
· to be saved
· to get into the body of Christ
· to get into the local church
· to get into the Holy Mother Church
· to get into a covenant relationship with God
· to get the Holy Ghost, or
· to get to Heaven
Is this true?
Let’s examine every time the word baptize is used in the Bible.
Why was Jesus Baptized
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Matthew 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. |
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Matthew 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? |
John
was referring to Jesus baptizing him with the Holy Ghost—not with water!
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Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. |
Why was Jesus Baptized in water? …
“to fulfil all righteousness.”
What does that mean? Jesus’ baptism was a picture of his death, burial and resurrection. The Bible tells us in:
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Romans
5:8 … that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. |
And in
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Romans 3:25-26 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins…To declare…his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. |
Jesus paid it all! He even was baptized for us. Then his righteousness is imputed to us.
Another reason Jesus was baptized in water was to reveal to John that Jesus was the Son of God:
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Mark 1:9 … Jesus came … and was baptized of John in Jordan. |
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John 1:33 … he that sent me [John] to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. |
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Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him [Jesus]: |
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Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This [Jesus] is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. |
John’s
Baptism
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John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water… |
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John 1:28 … beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. |
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John 3:23 … John … was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. |
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Mark 11:30 The baptism of John… |
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Luke 20:4 The baptism of John… |
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Luke 7:29 … the baptism of John. |
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Acts 1:22 Beginning from the baptism of John… |
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Acts 10:37 … the baptism which John preached; |
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Acts 18:25 … the baptism of John. |
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Acts 19:3 … Unto John's baptism. |
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Acts 13:24 … John had first preached before his [Jesus’s] coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. |
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Acts 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. |
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Matthew 3:7 But when he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his (John's) baptism, he said unto them, … who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? |
…from the wrath to come… refers to the Tribulation—Daniel’s 70th Week.
John was baptizing Jews in water.
Why?
John said:
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John 1:31 …that he [Jesus] should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. |
Can it be any plainer than that? John baptized the Jews in water to manifest to Israel that their promised messiah [Jesus] was here!
Baptism
of Repentance
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Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance… |
…the
baptism of repentance is explained as Unto repentance—means
repentance
comes
first, then John’s
baptism—in water.
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Matthew 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. |
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Mark 1:5 … were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. |
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Acts 19:4 … John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance… |
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Mark 1:4 John did baptize… and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. |
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Luke
3:3 And he came into all
the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism
of repentance
for the remission of sins; |
…for the remission of sins—because their sins were remitted.
But they weren't redeemed until the cross.
Baptize
you with the Holy Ghost
One Baptism—With the Holy Ghost—A Spiritual
Baptism—Not Water!
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Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, [a Spiritual Baptism] |
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Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism [a Spiritual Baptism] into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. |
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Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism [a Spiritual Baptism], wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. |
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Mark 1:8 I …have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost [a Spiritual Baptism]. |
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John 1:33 … he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost [a Spiritual Baptism]. |
Baptize … with the Holy Ghost. Who baptizes with the Holy Ghost?
Jesus. (he!) When?
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At the one baptism! [Spiritual—not water] |
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When
we are
buried with him in
baptism. [Spiritual—not water]. |
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At the moment
of the
new birth into the Body of Christ in the church age, |
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when
the tribulation saint trusts
Him in the Tribulation. |
Baptize you with Fire
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Luke 3:16 … I indeed baptize you with water; but …he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: |
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Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance… but…he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: |
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Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. |
This describes the 2nd Coming, when Jesus will gather the
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wheat (his faithful servants out of the Tribulation and allow them into the Kingdom in their natural, physical bodies), and the |
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chaff (those who took the mark of the beast, and cast them into Hell—unquenchable fire! ) |
You
don’t
want the baptism of
fire!
Baptized
with the Baptism that I am Baptized with:
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Matthew 20:22 … Jesus answered… Are ye able … to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? … |
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Mark 10:38 But Jesus said … can ye … be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? |
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Matthew 20:23 … Ye shall … be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with… |
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Mark 10:39 … with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: |
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Luke
12:50 But
I have a baptism to
be
baptized with… |
This
can’t
refer to water
baptism, because Jesus had already
been baptized in water!
This is referring to an ongoing and future
baptism. The
baptism
of suffering!
Jesus
was prophesying of his death
on the cross!
All the apostles suffered the
baptism of suffering.
Baptize
the Nations
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Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: |
Jesus is telling the apostles to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom [Millenium] to all the nations, and baptize them. At the 2nd Coming, Jesus will judge the nations according to how they treated the Jews in the tribulation. Those nations that blessed the Jews in the time of Jacob’s trouble—Daniel’s 70th week—will be allowed into the Kingdom, those nations that persecuted the Jews will not be allowed in.
The
Nation of Israel
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Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye [Israel ] have crucified, both Lord and Christ. |
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Acts 2:37 Now when they [Israel ] heard this, they [Israel ] were pricked in their [Israel’s] heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we [Israel ] do? |
Israel did not ask, “What shall we [as individuals] do to escape Hell?” Nor did they ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Instead, they asked, “What shall we [Israel ] do, now that we [Israel ] have crucified our [Israel’s] Messiah and King—the King of the Jews!”
Peter answered them [Israel ]:
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Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them [Israel ], Repent, and be baptized every one of you [Israel ] in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (because your sins were remitted at Calvary), and ye [Israel ] shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. |
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Acts 2:39 For the promise [Of the Kingdom—a royal priesthood, a holy nation] is unto you [Israel ], and to your [Israel’s ] children, and to all [Israel ] that are afar off, even as many [Israel ] as the Lord our [Israel’s ] God shall call [at the 2nd Coming]. |
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Acts
2:40 And with many other
words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this
untoward generation. |
This
proves Peter wasn’t talking about individual
salvation, because you can’t
save
yourself
from Hell. They were
instructed to save themselves from this untoward
generation—the
generation
of Israel
that killed
Jesus!
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Acts 2:41 Then they [Israelites and proselytes to Israel] that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. |
Understanding only John’s baptism in water, Peter preached the same thing John preached in:
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John 1:31 …that he [Jesus] should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. |
Can it be any plainer than that? John and Peter both baptized the Jews in water to manifest to Israel that their promised messiah [Jesus] was here!
Peter didn’t fully understand about the spiritual body of Christ—the dispensation of the Grace of God—until Paul revealed it to him in Acts 15! Paul explains what happened in:
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Galatians 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. |
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Gal 2:7 … when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision (Gentiles) was committed unto me [Paul], as the gospel of the circumcision (Israel) was unto Peter; |
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Gal 2:8 (For he [Jesus] that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision [Israelites], the same [Jesus] was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) |
At that time Israel was going into the Tribulation—Daniel’s 70th week. Paul’s gospel had not been revealed about the Body of Christ—the Church Age—the kingdom of God in a mystery—the dispensation of the Grace of God.
Not until the Jews as a nation had rejected their messiah by stoning Stephen, and then had rejected the apostle Paul after he first went to the synagogues, did God then postpone the Kingdom for nearly 2000 years, and then reveal to Paul the mystery of the Church Age—the Body of Christ.
So Acts 2:38 will again go into the Tribulation, and can not be applied to the born again Christian in the church age as a means to obtain eternal life.
Baptism
is a Picture—a Like Figure—Not an
Act to Cleanse
Someone from their Sins
1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Water Baptism and The
Gospel are not the Same Thing!
1 Corinthians 1:17 [Paul said:]
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For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel… |
If Paul thought that water baptism was essential for salvation in the church age for the born again Christian in the body of Christ, he would have baptized everyone he could. But he said,
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1 Cor 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; |
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1 Cor 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. |
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1 Cor 1:16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. |
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1 Cor 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. |
Paul’s gospel of the Body of Christ, which was revealed to him after the Jews rejected their Messiah, states that you are saved by grace through the faith in the Blood of Christ, without works!
Water Baptism is a work. It will not save you.
Born
of Water
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John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. |
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John 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? |
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John
3:5 Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be |
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born
of water
and |
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of
the Spirit, |
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
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John
3:6 That
which is |
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born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is |
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born of the Spirit is spirit. |
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John
3:7 Marvel
not that I said unto thee, |
Ye
must be born again.
Jesus
explained that being born of water did not
mean being baptized
in water.
He said in these verses that being born
of water is being born
of the flesh!
That’s the first
birth, when you are born into the world as a baby.
You come out
of water—born of water!
That’s
why he said, “Ye
must be born again.”
This
time it must be a spiritual
birth, you must be born of the spirit.
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Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. |
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1 Cor 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized [a spiritual baptism] into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, …and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. |
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John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he |
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[Jesus] which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. |